Despite Protests, Missouri Approves Using Pigs for Research

The University of Missouri says it will continue to use live pigs to train emergency room doctors despite protests.

Last week, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine organized a rally outside University Hospital to advocate ending the use of swine in physician training. The demonstration was organized after the university refused the group's call to abandon the practice.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the university's Animal Care and Use Committee earlier this month approved continuing the practice through November 2020. Retired emergency physician Kerry Foley says the university is the only one of five emergency residency programs in the state that still uses pigs. A survey conducted by the physicians committee found only 16 of 211 emergency residency programs in the U.S. and Canada use pigs to train doctors.